By Chris Parker
School of the Ozarks boys basketball is coming off an eight-win season with four returning upperclassmen.
Timba Saffle (senior guard), Isaac Hampsch (senior guard), Oliver Mutrux (senior guard) and Canaan Thomas (junior forward) are all returning. Saffle, who brings quickness and shooting, earned honorable mention all-conference honors after he averaged 9.8 points per game. Hampsch averaged 6.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Thomas contributed 5.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Juniors Braden Sparks and James Carswell bring good size to the team at 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-6, respectively. Fisher Thompson (junior) and Dustan Housley (sophomore) are two other newcomers to watch.
Experience will be a strength this season.
“(Our) core group is juniors and seniors, so we should defend better,” School of the Ozarks head coach Jerry Martin said. “We will be able to shoot it better than last year.”
School of the Ozarks opens the season Nov. 21 at Humansville.
“Team unity and confidence loom large, and I think we have the group that will do that,” Martin said. “That leads to a lot of other good things. I’d like a better defensive identity, which comes with the buy-in from players.”
